Integrating social justice into the daily life of the parish has emerged as a key theme in listening sessions conducted throughout the archdiocese by the Office of Justice and Peace.

Parishes "want to build communities of faith that are geared towards social justice," Maria Elena Perales, director of the Office of Justice and Peace, told The Tidings.

Parish leaders, she added, are interested in ways that liturgical prayers of the faithful, homilies, bulletin announcements and other parish ministries can include a social justice component that serves to unite the parish in working to address the needs of the community.

Two other key themes are developing lay leadership to promote the work of justice and peace and effective communication about current issues and actions.

Some 70 parishioners, clergy and religious attended the Justice and Peace Assembly at Loyola Marymount University Oct. 16 to review the results of the listening sessions conducted in each pastoral region during the summer and attended by representatives from more than 120 parishes.

The sessions and assembly, organized by members of the archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission, were held to begin implementing Synod Pastoral Initiative VI --- Social Justice: Living at the Service of God's Reign. One of the strategies from this Synod initiative is that each parish in the archdiocese develops a social justice ministry to educate, inform and raise the consciousness among parishioners about issues of social justice.

"We need to learn justice Jesus' way --- to work with constant prayer and use the teachings of the church as a guideline," said Father Alex Castillo, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario and assembly keynote speaker. Father Castillo was former director of the Office of Hispanic Affairs for the California Catholic bishops' conference.

The Office of Justice and Peace has developed an action plan in response to the listening sessions. Among the strategies is the newly launched justice and peace website at http//ojp.la-archdiocese.org which states as its mission: "to educate the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on the principles of Catholic social teaching and its application to contemporary local, national, and international issues; to advocate for public policy which affirms human life and human dignity and reflects a consistent life ethic; and to develop a constituency on social concerns."

The site includes a primer on Catholic social teaching, a reading list, parish and school resources for education and advocacy and an events calendar.

The office also is developing a two-hour Catholic Social Teaching 101 workshop for use in churches, and a 102 workshop to train parish leaders in how to establish a justice and peace ministry that is integrated into the parish's different ministries.

Upcoming archdiocesan efforts include a second collection at parishes the weekend before Thanksgiving on behalf of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The CCHD is the American church's domestic anti-poverty program that addresses root causes of poverty in the United States. It has funded some 4,000 programs nationally for more than 30 years.

In December, training will be held in the pastoral regions to assist parishes to implement the Lenten Operation Rice Bowl collection to support the development projects of Catholic Relief Services globally. Sessions will take place at St. Denis Church in Diamond Bar on Dec. 4, 9-11:30 a.m., and at St. Matthias Church in Huntington Park, 1:30-4 p.m. Another session will take place at St. Mel Church in Woodland Hills on Dec. 11, 9-11:30 a.m., and at San Roque Church in Santa Barbara, 1:30-4 p.m.

Editor's note: Next week's story will feature experiences from Catholic parishes on how to initiate and develop a justice and peace ministry at the parish level.